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Citation. 22 U.S. 1, 9 Wheat. 1, 6 L. Ed. 23 (1824)
Brief Fact Summary. After someone was given an exclusive ferry operations license by a state, a competitor challenged the license as a violation of the Commerce Clause.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. Commerce that is connected to more than one state is within the reach of Congress's commerce power.
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Citation. 22 U.S. 1, 9 Wheat. 1, 6 L. Ed. 23 (1824)
Brief Fact Summary. Ogden was given an exclusive license, pursuant to a New York statute, to run a ferry between New York and New Jersey. Gibbons obtained a license, pursuant to federal law, to run a ferry in New York waters, thus, running in interference with Ogden's license. Ogden sought an injunction against Gibbons.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce does not stop at the external boundary line of a State. Congress' power to regulate within it ...

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Citation. 22 U.S. 1, 9 Wheat. 1, 6 L. Ed. 23 (1824)
Brief Fact Summary. The State of New York had issued an exclusive license to operate steamboats in New York waters to Fulton and Livingston. Their licensee and the Plaintiff - Respondent, Ogden (Plaintiff), sued the Defendant - Appellant, Gibbons (Defendant), for operating a competing ferry service.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. The commerce power is a broad regulatory power.
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The other great structural issue in Constitutional Law is federalism – the relationship between the federal government and the states. Many of the battles over federalism center on the amount of regulatory power that is invested in Congress. The most important congressional regulatory power is the power “to regulate commerce among the several states.” The following case recounts the history of “the Commerce Power” and reveals modern limits on that power.
UNITED STATES v. LOPEZ
514 U.S. 549 (1995)
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Gibbons v. Ogden (S.Ct. 1824)
Facts: P, the holder of a New York monopoly right to operate steamboats between New York and New Jersey, challenged a federal law of 1793 which gave D the right to operate steamboats along the same route.
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McCulloch v. Maryland (S.Ct. 1819)
Facts: Congress chartered a bank that established an active branch in Maryland. Because the bank was not chartered by the Maryland legislature, it was subject to a Maryland state tax that applied to all banks operating without that state's authority. The bank failed to comply with the tax law, arguing that the tax constituted a wrongful interference with Congress' lawmaking powers.
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Article I, § 8 of the Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate commerce among the several states. The scope of federal commerce power has been the subject of debate for many years and has gone through historical trends. There was always a tension as to whether a particular activity was considered interstate commerce or sufficiently affected interstate commerce and therefore fell into the federal commerce power.
A. Defined
There is no legislative history to tell us what exactly was meant by "commerce power" when the Constitution was drafted. We do know that the Constitution was ...